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Horned Dog
The Horned Dog is a creature that looks identical to a dog save for the single horn on the creature's head; as its name suggests. The Barsburg Church has been shown to use them as guard dogs during the Bishop exam, and outside the Church, they are used as beasts of burden. Anatomy Fully grown horned dogs are very large, looking to be about the size of a rhino, with a head almost as large as their body, and a mouth large enough to swallow a child whole. They have four, thick, muscular legs that are short compared to their body, and three claws on each foot. Their eyes are large, with pronounced eyebrow ridges, and they have pointed ears. Their mouths are filled with large teeth which extend over the bottom jaw when the mouth is closed. They appear sexually dimorphic (males and females look different).During the exam, in the Barsburg Church, the Horned-dogs shown there looked slightly different to the one already shown. Since the one already shown was a female, it is possible that these are the males of the species. Males have two, curved, ram-like horns at their temples, and their fur may be shorter than the females.In Kapitel 25 a male was shown with short fur, though it is unknown if this is natural or if Carl had simply cut the fur to reduce hair care needs. Young The young look identical to a small dog, being roughly a foot tall, with a large head in comparison to their bodies and four stubby legs. They have a single, yellow horn on their head about the same length as their tail. Their fur is a beige colour on their faces, limbs and underbelly, while the fur on the top of the body is a much darker brown. Their fur appears thick, especially on the chest, sides of the face and top of the head. Their cheeks are tinged with pink and their eyes are red. Temperament The adults appear aggressive, or at least territorial or protective of their young, as the mother of the puppy attacked Teito Klein and Mikage Celestine when they were playing with her child. The animals also appear to be quite intelligent, as Mikage was easily able to teach a pup to fetch sticks and beg. They appear to be solitary creatures.Kapitel 15 shows that they do not travel in packs and mothers raise pups on their own. The young behave similar to dogs, fetching sticks and wanting to play like puppies do.Kapitel 15 pages 23-24, Elizabeth III catches the stick Mikage throws for her. Breeding The species does not appear to be monogamous, and the father doesn't appear to play a large role in the rearing of the pups. The pups appear to be raised by the mother until adulthood. It is currently unknown how large litters are, and at what age the mother leaves her pups. Mothers carry their pups by the scruff of their necks, like cats, and pups sometimes ride on the mother's back. Ecology A horned dog was seen in the wilderness in District 1, suggesting they favour mountain land. It is likely they hold very large territories. Trivia *A Horned Dog was shown in Chapter 15 and was named "Elizabeth III" by Mikage. *There are several adult Horned-dogs somewhere in the Barsburg Church, and students must pass it to pass through to the next stage of the Bishop's Apprentice Exam.In Kapitel 22 page 11, Teito, Hakuren and Kyle are all seen battling creatures that greatly resemble the adult forms of the Horned-dogs. Category:Creatures Category:Mammals Category:Canines